Without commenting on the wisdom or value of the attack, the cost of the cruise missiles relative to our spending on social services was negligible. Just Medicare alone cost us over a half a trillion dollars last year: http://medicareupdate.typepad.com/medicare_update/2010/01/cbomedicarespending2020.html
$62 million buys about 1 hour of Medicare spending - the cruise missiles may well have been in the air for longer than that.

Again, I'm not supporting a military attack in preference to social spending, I'm merely making the point that our total spending on social services (which goes well beyond just Medicare) has 5 or 6 more zeroes in the number than what a few cruise missiles cost. Also, some of the cruise missiles were launched by the British.

Caveat: I'm not a psychologist or a doctor. There's every reason to think that a combination of working with a therapist, psychologist or psychologist, and perhaps using some modern pharmaceutical technology can help you. But, either separately or as a part of a broader effort, be aware of a widely used and effective technique known as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. You can research the details yourself, but in a nutshell this is a very straightforward type of therapy that uses the (evolutionarily) newer cognitive functions of your brain to overcome seemingly uncontrollable emotional responses that are produced by the older "reptile" parts of your brain. CBT has been shown to be generally very successful at treating a range of phobias, depression, anxiety and some related disorders. It's not magic, it takes some time and certainly some effort, but it's very logical and straightforward, with no relationship to the "lie on the couch and tell me about your terrible childhood" sort of psychoanalysis.

A broadly successful technique to combat phobias and anxiety is called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It's a practical, widely accepted psychological tool that doesn't rely on "traditional" psychoanalysis, or on pharmaceuticals. It's not magic, and it takes some time and dedication. But, the results have been thoroughly documented and tested across a wide range of psychological issues, especially for anxiety, depression and phobias. In a nutshell, CBT uses the higher-level cognitive abilities of the brain to overcome the more primitive, visceral fears that can develop in some situations from the brain's emotional centers.

It's a little bit like an automatic garage door opener - if you've never had one, you don't necessarily see the need for it. But, once you've had one, you can't imagine how you lived without it. I can sift through the giant sea of crappy TV content for the 1% that I care about, and then watch it any time I want, without ever seeing a commercial. Just the 20%+ time savings from being able to strip out the commercials, intros, promos, etc is worth the expense. Being able to pause, rewind and fast forward just add to the experience.

Check out this book on the impact of cooking food (meat and vegetables) on human society and biology:
http://www.amazon.com/Catching-Fire-Cooking-Made-Human/dp/0465020410/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1297296803&sr=1-1
The author provides credible evidence that humans' use of fire for food preparation fundamentally changed us, both evolutionarily and culturally. Cooking goes back far enough in our past to have impacted our digestive system's evolution, decreasing our ability to digest raw food, and our ability to deal with the associated bacteria. But, compared with our closest genetic cousins (chimpanzees), we spend much less time and energy eating, because cooking makes most food easier to digest, and results in a higher ratio of energy derived from the food relative to the energy required for digestion.

I think a lot of people look at how man has colonized the planet, and mistakenly conclude that colonization of other planets is a logical extension of this. Whenever man extended his habitat on earth, this occurred only where he found reasonably hospitable climates and sustainable sources of food. Later, when more advanced societies began long-range ocean travel, it was generally in the name of trade and profit or to further exploit natural resources, not through a spirit of adventure.

None of these items - hospitable climates, necessary resources, opportunities for profitable trade - await humans in space. Yes, it's possible to make some half-baked arguments about discovering habitable planets, or terra-forming existing ones, or about mining minerals on the moon, etc. The proof is in the pudding - if anyone thinks that these are realistic business models, find a venture capitalist who agrees and will fund them.

Speaking as someone who grew up with the magic and adventure of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, and as someone with a strong appreciation for the value of science and research, I hope that we'll leave space research and exploration to the robots for now, and focus our resources back on our own planet for a while.

If you're looking for a basic but unique coffeemaker that gets consistently great reviews for the quality of its coffee, check out the family of Technivorm coffeemakers from the Dutch company of the same name:
http://www.technivorm.com/pages/products-home.html
The various consumer models are available from several outlets in the US, for around $300. They sport love-it-or-hate-it styling, but apparently they do make a very nice pot of coffee.

Just for the record, WWII combat in Europe began in 1939, so it was more like 6 years before Hitler was defeated. America declared war on Germany over 2 years after the war began. But regardless, the circumstances (prior history, politics, military technology & tactics, etc, etc) of WWII vs Iraq or Afghanistan are so different, I'm not sure I see a lot of value in comparing them. America also had hundreds of thousands of war dead in WWII - is that a trade-off you'd recommend for a more rapid conclusion now?

The core premise of the Confederacy was that it's acceptable to own other human beings and their offspring as property, in perpetuity, capturing all of the benefits of their slave labor for oneself. Debates about states rights are a red herring - compare the text of the Confederate Constitution with the original US Constitution, and you'll see that the primary change was to explicitly enshrine slavery as a Confederate ideal.

I agree that this is the best long-term fix to the election process - replace the money from corporations, unions and wealthy individuals with public funding. I also agree that it's a long shot. But, there's a serious initiative in Congress to change the way we fund elections:
http://www.fixcongressfirst.org/

In many cases a vote for a third party is worse than throwing a vote away - it actually helps elect a candidate furthest removed from your own politics. The political and financial reality of the US system dictates that only a Democrat or a Republican is likely to win a major election. So, a vote for a Libertarian (i.e., conservative) candidate actually tends to aid the Democrat, just as a vote for a Green (i.e., liberal) candidate would tend to aid the Republican.

Here's a discussion on NPR's CarTalk site of engine damage from timing belt failure on a similar age & mileage Accord:
http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/2147903.page
The damage can be pretty severe, and there's generally no warning before a timing belt breaks. It will be a lot cheaper to have it replaced before it fails; you might find a better deal from an independent mechanic as opposed to a dealer - it's not all that complex of a task.

Although you're right that the headlights working is a reasonable verification that the battery is OK, it's not uncommon that when an older battery loses one of its six cells, it has enough voltage to drive the headlights, but can't spin the starter motor, which takes a very large amount of current. If you have the original battery from a 2000 model year car, that wouldn't be an uncommon failure. The good news is that you can get a jumpstart if this is the case - be sure to understand the process for hooking up the cables correctly and safely. In the worst case, attempting a jump start is a reasonable diagnostic in itself; if it works, you've probably got a dead cell in the battery.

Search your local (city) and state government websites for consumer or credit counseling services. There may be government or govt-approved non-profit services that can provide some financial advice, presumably for free. Be skeptical of any for-profit counseling, and even some non-profits that act as fronts for loan consolidation services.

Although swapping one form of debt for another may not seem like much of a plan, right now the interest rates on home equity loans are at historic lows, while rates on credit cards aren't. It might make sense to use a HEL to pay off the credit cards - this assumes that your folks can limit their future use of credit cards. Also, be aware that in the worst case a default on credit card debt just trashes your credit rating; defaulting on a HEL might cost them their house. Also, some HELs have floating interest rates, with the associated risks.

In your dad's case, look for disability programs from his current and former employers, as well as a union if he was a member, and from Social Security's disability insurance (this is distinct from the SS retirement benefit). He's probably paid into the SS disability insurance program for his entire career. If he's at or near 65, look at Medicare for health insurance. If he's below the Medicare age qualification and can't get health insurance from an employer or on the private market (i.e., turned down due to his existing condition), he may qualify for a state-specific high risk insurance pool.

Two fairly easy things to try: first, look for a firmware update for your router. It may have a bug or be lacking a performance update. Second, try to talk comcast out of a new cable modem - sometimes the link between the modem and the upstream device can become flaky, and the problem is generally in the cheap box they give you. Before doing either of those, though, you might poke around with the network statistics and diagnostics on your router to see if you can identify and obvious issues, for example a bunch of dropped packets. Also, some cable modems have error code displays embedded into their front panel LEDs, either when the device is reset, or sometimes if it sees a persistent error.

Have him look into a type of individual health insurance plan that's known generically as a High Deductible Health Plan, backed up with a bank account (or investment account) known as a Health Savings Account. The catch here is that the HDHPs must have, as I recall, an annual deductible of at least $2500. In return you tend to get lower overall premiums, since the plans essentially just insure against catastrophes. But, some of them also cover the cost of an annual physical, separate from the deductible.

He can deposit up to $3050 each year in the associated HSA account, and this amount is subtracted directly from his federal tax bill as a credit (not a deduction). He can use HSA funds for most medical expenses that wouldn't be covered by the HDHP insurance, including expenses against the deductible. The net cost of these expenses is lowered by a coefficient of (1-his_tax_rate), so it's a significant discount beyond the price that the insurance company negotiated with the hospital, doctor, drug company, etc. (Historical footnote: the creation of HSAs represents arguably the single most positive domestic achievement for George W. Bush - the list is pretty short...)

Your dad's age & health status roughly match mine. I have an HDHP/HSA plan in KY, with a whopping $5000 annual deductible. But, my annual physical is (usually, mostly) covered by the insurance, and the premiums are only ~$90/month. I suspect these will continue to rise at a fairly aggressive rate, since that's the trend.

The new health care law does away with lifetime benefit limits, which my present plan caps at $7 million. While the new reform law has some good consumer protection aspects, it's probably not going to hold down the growth of individual plan premiums very dramatically. If your dad did have a chronic health care issue that prevented him from getting insured in the individual market, he'd have access to a state-specific high risk insurance pool. Here in KY it's not a great deal, with premiums in the $500-1000/month range, but if you have a grave disease, you can at least get some guaranteed insurance coverage.

Here's a link to the US Treasury (i.e. IRS) discussion of HSAs in general; details on the specific insurance plans come from the insurance providers:
http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/public-affairs/hsa/
Final thought - the HDHP insurers generally have a bank partner that can provide an HSA, but you're not compelled to use that bank. I ended up creating a new HSA account at my existing bank, with the obvious resulting efficiencies.

I'm by no means an expert, but my general sense is that risk of birth defects is more directly linked with advancing age of the mother, although some birth defects also have a risk component associated with advancing age of the father. In general, I don't think late-20s to late-30s puts you in an especially high risk category, but by all means get professional guidance if you're concerned.

I'll echo BradC's comments - as a young baby boomer who saw dozens and dozens of rock concerts back in the days when bands bragged about the sound pressure levels of their PAs, I now pay the price with a constant, low-level ringing in my ears. Every few days the hearing cuts out completely in one ear or another, and I often find it hard to follow the dialog on some TV shows. I love music, but if it makes you deaf the whole thing is self-defeating; this is damage that can't be undone.

Any cheap set of foam earplugs will offer protection against overly-loud sound. Or, if you google "custom earplugs" you'll find plenty that are molded to fit your specific ear canal. I've also seen some high-end sets that let you select the degree of reduction in SPL. Don't let your love of music damage your hearing.

Unlike the engine oil, I think it's almost impossible to overfill the coolant on a modern car, so I wouldn't worry about that. As the system gets hot any excess coolant is shunted into the overflow jug, and is then dumped on the ground if that becomes filled. I'm pretty sure the overflow jug is universally present as a safety feature - you can check the coolant level there w/o opening a hot, pressurized radiator. By the same token, a system that's low on coolant should be able to draw some back from the overflow jug into the radiator as the hot car cools down. Here's a brief theory of ops:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/cooling-system7.htm

If you have to continually refill the overflow jug (assuming it's not leaking itself), that means you have a leak somewhere in the hot/pressurized portion of the cooling system. Sometimes the automatic action of the radiator cap and overflow jug can cure an air bubble in the system over several heat-up/cool-down cycles of driving.

The thermostat and the coolant temperature sensor (or the wires attached to it) are both reasonable things to suspect. It could also be that when you got the new radiator, the proper sequence of refilling the coolant wasn't followed, resulting in an air pocket somewhere in the cooling system.

Different engines have different refilling instructions,some of which can be fairly elaborate. But, I suspect a lot of mechanics just dump in the coolant until it looks full. Your symptoms of varying temp and fluid level are consistent with this scenario. The good news is, if you didn't already melt down the block, and now have the right amount of coolant, you should be fine. Just keep a close eye on everything for a while, and do just as you did before - if you get a temperature or a fluid level warning, don't drive further. Final thought - you could simply have another coolant leak, which can be hard to find in some cases.

The mud is starting to fly fast and furious here in KY. Regardless of where you stand on Rand Paul and his positions in the campaign, he's said and done things in public that don't comport well with the realities of running for the US Senate. Perhaps if you hang enough half-truths on the guy, they begin to add up to some whole-truths. In any case he should have been smart enough to foresee some of the inevitable results of his words and actions. But you're right that the Conway ad borders on despicable.